


The Boy In The Window

by aerobesk



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Drug Use, M/M, Self Harm, Suicide, modern day AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-11
Updated: 2014-02-11
Packaged: 2018-01-11 22:27:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1178705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerobesk/pseuds/aerobesk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What kind of a name is that?” “Last name, dude. Better than my first.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Boy In The Window

“Hey man. You ok?”

Church’s head snapped up from where it was positioned on his knees. There was another boy staring at him from the window of the house next door. The old thing had been empty as long as Church could remember, but he vaguely remembered his mom talking about how nice the new neighbors were when he had run into the house. The boy staring at him was no more than his age, with shaggy brown hair and large, brown eyes. His skin was tan, and he wore an orange t-shirt. His black shorts came into view as he crawled out onto his own little balcony, trying not to look at the ground as he studied Church. He held out his hand.

“I’m Grif.”

Church snorted. “Grif?” He shook the offered hand anyway, wiping his nose off on his sleeve.

“Last name, but it’s better than my first. What’s yours?”

“Church.”

The boy snickered a little as he pulled his hand back.

“What kind of a name is that?”

“Last name, dude. Better than my first.”

Grif smiled at him, and Church found himself smiling right back. The two of them heard a shout from Grif’s room.

“Dexter, get out here! Mom wants you!”

Grif rolled his eyes, making his way back into the window. “Coming Kai!” He turned back around and smiled at Church. “Hope you feel better!” He closed the window and left, leaving Church alone.

For whatever reason, he did feel better. A lot better. He smiled, feeling a breeze pass over him as he looked up. “Grif…”

He liked it better than Dexter. With that thought Church giggled, crawling back into his room.

—-

“Do you get number 8?”

“Dude, are you kidding? I’m still on number 4!”

Grif sighed, spitting off the edge of the roof.

“I don’t get why I do math homework with you. I should be doing this with Dick, not you! He gets it!”

“You really think he’s gonna let you work with him after last time?”

Grif shuddered a bit. “Oh… yeah.”

Church rolled his eyes. Grif had gotten, if possible, even more immature in the two years that Church had known him. How a twelve year old could be that stupid was beyond him.

That night Church heard tapping on his window. He stood, yawning as he pulled a shirt over his head and opened the curtains to find Grif crouching there, smiling at him in a sweater and pajama pants.

Church opened his window. “Dude, it’s like 1 in the morning. What do you want?”

“There’s supposed to me a meteor shower in a few minutes! You should come watch it with me!”

“A meteor shower?” Church was excited by the prospect of getting to see and actual meteor shower. He had always loved space, and it had been him who told Grif all of the constellations and myths that he knew.

“Yeah! Grab a jacket and come on!”

Church quickly grabbed his hoodie from his desk and crawled out after his friend, shivering and quickly pulling the thing on. They sat there talking for a few minutes before Grif saw something out of the corner of his eye. “Look!”

The two watched in awe as the lights streaked across the sky. The thing was set to last for half an hour, but by 15 minutes in Grif was getting tired.

“You can go inside if you want,” Church told him the 6th time he yawned.

“No way! I’m fine!”

If Grif’s head fell on Church’s shoulder no more than 5 minutes later, Church didn’t say anything. And if he was blushing when he woke Grif up after the shower was over, Grif didn’t say anything either.

—-

“No way. Where did he even get that stuff?”

“Come on Church! It’s safe, I promise! I got it from Sarge for god’s sake! It’s good!” 

“Ugh. Fine.”

Grif’s friends were weird, but no weirder than Church’s. Grif’s little pack consisted of Sarge, the guy who had to go back to high school cause he dropped out in his junior year to join the army, Simmons, the brainiac with the bionic arm, and Donut, the drama club president that everyone knew was gay even though he never said anything. Church’s group, on the other hand, involved Tucker, a linebacker on the football team and well known womanizer, Washington, that one really good looking teacher’s pet who no one ever messes with, and Caboose, the most childish 17 year old anyone in their grade had ever seen.

Somehow it was Grif’s friends that turned out to be the druggy’s though, and so there Church was, his 3rd joint of his life clasped between his fingers, sitting on the balconies with Grif.

“How’d you get the black eye?”

“Dad.”

“He still pulling that shit?”

“Yeah. It’s gotten a little better now, cause he’s gotten used to the fact that Kai’s pregnant now. He just leaves her alone most of the time.”

“That’s good.”

“I guess. I saw your ex today.”

“Ali?”

“You don’t have another ex.”

“Shut up. How’s she doin?”

“Not bad I guess. I didn’t exactly stop and talk to her.”

“… She dumped me the day we met.”

“That was a short relationship.”

“What? Dude, I meant the day you and I met.”

“I know, I’m just messing with ya.”

“Asshole.”

“Whiney bitch.”

They laughed at their childish banter, sinking back into a comfortable silence.

“Well, I have shit I have to get done. Will you be ok with your dad and everything?”

“Of course dude. I’m always ok.”

“Alright… and hey, remember what I said yesterday. I don’t care what Sarge tells you, don’t get into that other shit he’s picking up, ok?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, you worry too much! Get outta here!” Grif turned to him and chuckled as he slid back into his room. “I’ll be fine, ok?”

Church smiled back. “Ok.” With that he closed his window and drew the blinds, sitting at his desk to work on his project for chemistry.

—-

Church stood there in Grif’s living room 2 weeks later. He hadn’t spoken with the other teen in that time. In fact, after their smoking session, Church hadn’t had the time to try and contact the other until a week later. Grif hadn’t opened his window.

Right now, Church was staring at the closed casket sitting on the table in the corner of the room. A deep cherry wood, the thing was surrounded by a nice display of flowers and photos. The whole thing was so movie-like and serene, it made Church want to vomit. It wasn’t what Grif would have wanted.

His body had been found by his mother in the upstairs bathroom. There were “unexplained” bruises on him, and traces of LSD in his system. Church knew that Grif’s dad was responsible for the bruises and Sarge had given him the LSD, but he didn’t say anything. He wasn’t going to say anything unless approached about it.

The death itself had been caused by Grif. The empty bottle of ibuprofen sitting next to him on the ground had told that part of the story. There were cuts on his arm too. Even more over his stomach. Church had always known that Grif cut. He had only brought it up once; a time when the cut on Grif’s arm was bleeding so badly that Church brought the other boy into his room, silently cleaning and bandaging the wound before helping him crawl back out the window. They had been 14.

Church loosened his tie and walked up to Grif’s bedroom. The dead boy’s mom watched him, but said nothing. She had found the two of them upstairs enough times to know that the two had been closer than anyone else.

Church walked into the room, smelling the faintest hint of weed as he passed Grif’s open closet door. It was messy and stuffy, and just how Church remembered it from all their time together. He went over to the window, opening the curtains and staring across at his own closed ones. By impulse, he reached out and slid the window open, crawling out onto the balconies. He sat there, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his face on them.

Not even a month before, Church had bragged to Grif one night about how he hadn’t cried since the day they met. That night, Church pushed his face into his knees and let the tears fall.


End file.
